The administration of the transport service during the war against revolutionary France, 1793-1802

Abstract

During the war against revolutionary France, in order to carry
out the ambitious policy of Henry Dundas, Secretary of State for War,
the King's forces were conveyed to the far distant East and West Indies,
to the Continent, the Mediterranean and Egypt and to the Cape of Good Hope.
For the first eighteen months the war was conducted in a sluggish
and haphazard manner resulting in failure on the Continent and in an
inefficient transport service. The disorganization of the Navy Office
and abuses in the Royal dockyards, defects in the transport system which
had been revealed by a commission of naval enquiry appointed in 1785,
still existed. It became increasingly difficult to hire, inspect and
fit out enough ships to be used as transports. By July 1794 the lack of
success of the Continental campaigns and the realization that war would
continue caused the ministry to make important changes in the government
and in the transport system. The business of hiring vessels to be used
as troopships, victuallers, and ordnance vessels was now centered in a
Transport Board and the competition in the engagement of shipping that
before existed between the Navy, Victualling and Ordnance offices was
eliminated. A board set up to deal specifically with transport affairs
was able to give undivided attention to them. Thus a more organized
and efficiently run transport service was inaugurated.
Since the war against France was conducted through a series of
campaigns and expeditions the Transport Board did not have to maintain a
large army overseas for an extended period of time. However, it carried
out some of the greatest troop movements of the eighteenth century,
particularly the Abercromby-Christian expedition of November 1795 which involved the conveyance of 27,000 men, their equipment, provisions and
ordnance to the West Indies, and the expedition to North Holland in 1799
which involved the transportation of 46,000 men from England and the Baltic.
The progress of the transport service in getting the expeditions out to sea,
especially those going to the West Indies, was often impeded by the slowness
of other departments, particularly the Ordnance, in preparing for the
military enterprise and by the natural foibles of storms and contrary winds.
Throughout the war the Transport Board also had to cope with a
dangerous shipping shortage, due to a vast increase in every branch of
trade. This was a time of unprecedented commercial prosperity when it
became more advantageous for the merchant to put his ship to a trade than
to let it to the government. Hiring space on merchant vessels that
traded regularly between Britain and the areas where the army was being
sent was one method the Transport Board employed in an attempt to meet
its tonnage requirements. Many troops and almost all officers were sent
to the West Indies in this manner and a great part of the provisions sent
to the British army overseas were conveyed in victuallers hired on freight.
The Transport Board chartered eighty ships at Hamburg in order to satisfy
its shipping needs in 1795. However, this venture proved a great and
costly disappointment. More beneficial was the Board's practice of
keeping the freight rate offered by the government to the owners of
merchant vessels consistent with the high cost of provisions and stores
and increased wages. The freight rate was increased by over seven
shillings per ton or by two thirds over an eight-year period. Previously,
it had remained almost static throughout the eighteenth century. By these
wise and practical methods the Transport Board was able to meet the logistical
requirements of Dundas' ambitious policy throughout the war.

Type:

Thesis
(Doctoral)

Title:

The administration of the transport service during the war against revolutionary France, 1793-1802